By Layla Ennis and Kimball Cartwright
“We believe agriculture is a way of life; it is not easy, but three of our children have chosen that life,”
– John Horan
John and Damaris Horan are the parents of Patrick and Quincy Horan, owners and operators of Waldingfield Farm in Washington, Connecticut. As the property owners, the couple recently decided to preserve 78 acres of their land as farmland forever.
We were curious to learn more about what motivated the couple to take the significant step to preserve their land in perpetuity.
As we drove up the long gravel driveway, remnants of the recent winter storm still lingered in scattered puddles. To the right of the driveway, the old white farmhouse with its sprawling covered porch came into view. Stepping out of the car, we could not help but feel like we were looking at the quintessential image of an old New England farm.
Damaris greeted us on the porch and welcomed us into the farmhouse’s kitchen. We settled in with a cup of tea, and our conversation swiftly turned to the rich familial history of the property. The family’s connection to this land began in 1918 when Damaris’ grandfather, Clarence B. Smith, a New York City lawyer, with a love of dairy farming, bought the vacant farm. While the property served as a summer home for his family, he also bought a herd of registered Holsteins and operated the farm, with a local manager, as a working dairy farm.
When Clarence died unexpectedly in 1932, his widow, Catherine C. Smith, closed the dairy farm and leased the land to local farmers for hay and cattle corn production. While some of the pastureland has overgrown into woods over the years, this leasing arrangement meant that actively farmed areas remained pasture. The Horans’ records show that their land has been continually worked for at least the past 150 years.
Waldingfield Farm’s transition into organic vegetables began in 1990, when the Horans’ eldest son, Daniel, expressed an interest in growing certified organic vegetables.
“He came to us and said, ‘We could use this land to grow food for the community.’ He envisioned it as a community-supported agriculture (CSA) organic farm, focusing on growing food that people would eat.”
– John Horan
To achieve certification as an organic farm, the soil health had to meet specific standards. Non-organic pesticides and fertilizers had been used by farmers who had leased the land for decades of hay and corn production. It took Daniel over five years to rejuvenate the soil’s health with organic alternatives, to obtain organic farming certification. Regarding Dan’s focus and singularity of purpose, Damaris emphasized, “His grandfather, C. B. Smith, would have been delighted to turn the care of the land over to him.”
Although Damaris and John are not farmers themselves, their youngest children, twins Patrick and Quincy, found the same passion as their older brother. In thirty years, the three sons have turned Waldingfield Farm into a successful organic vegetable farm. The farm business is now owned and run by Patrick and Quincy.
In 2019, the Horans decided to begin the preservation process for their land. “We see it as a family investment and a good thing,” John said. They were driven both by a desire to invest in their children’s passions and to conserve the natural beauty in Washington. “The farms, they are vanishing. Actually digging and working the land is rare,” John added, emphasizing the importance of their decision. “We don’t want to see houses back there where the vegetables are,” Damaris concurred, gesturing out the window toward the fields.
Land preservation is a complex and often lengthy process. “Connecticut Farmland Trust’s role was to help John and Damaris navigate two complex government processes,” explained Kathleen Doherty, Connecticut Farmland Trust’s (CFT) Senior Conservation Manager. John admitted that at times the progress of the preservation project was unclear. However, he expressed gratitude for Kathleen’s assistance, “Kathleen was the only person who could hold my hand with some authority and give me confidence it would happen.”
After four years, 78 acres of Waldingfield Farm were finally preserved in October of 2023. Damaris and John Horan have four children and six grandchildren. They have arranged their estate to pass the easement on to the next generations, ensuring that the land’s long legacy of farming remains.